The
Voxel Imaging PET (VIP) Pathfinder project intends to show the
advantages of using pixelated solid-state technology for nuclear
medicine applications. Its aim is to show that using pixelated
solid-state technology with a large number of signal channels for
nuclear medicine detectors will improve both the energy and position
resolution of the measurements with high efficiency compared to
state-of-the-art crystal PET detectors. Additionally, because of the
orientation of the sensors within the design, the signals are not
affected by a strong magnetic field, thus making it possible to be
used for hybrid PET/MRI imaging systems. Though the VIP project is
focusing on PET scanners, the concept can be extended to be used for
PEM scanners and Compton gamma cameras.

A dedicated
application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) is designed and
produced by the VIP project. Also, a proof of concept experimental
set-up will be constructed and evaluated, to confirm the predicted
performance.

VIP project is being funded by FP7-ERC-AG. It
has started in July 2010 for a period of 48 months.